Cristine Reyes, Derek Ramsay 'skipped dating stage'

ABS-CBN News

Celebrity couple Cristine Reyes and Derek Ramsay get goofy in this photo posted by the actor on his Instagram page last Monday

MANILA -- Becoming a couple came unexpectedly for film co-stars Cristine Reyes and Derek Ramsay, as they had intended to be only good friends, according to the actor.

"Everything happened so fast," the 36-year-old Ramsay told ABS-CBN News on Wednesday, exactly a week after he and Reyes officially became a couple.

"Like I said, we skipped the whole dating, I guess, in the three years that we have known each other," he said.

The two first got acquainted in 2011, when they were tapped to portray a married couple in the romance-drama film "No Other Woman." At the time, Reyes and Ramsay were still with their respective former partners.

Reyes and actor-dancer Rayver Cruz, in January 2013, made a televised announcement of their separation, which happened last year.

Ramsay and actress Angelica Panganiban, on the other hand, broke up in February 2012.

Since Reyes' separation from Cruz, the actress and Ramsay have been romantically linked. While the two admitted frequently going out and being "in constant communication," they maintained they were only friends.

Asked whether he is in good terms with Cruz, who remains to be good friends with Reyes, Ramsay said, "There's definitely no bad blood between me and Rayver."

"Rayver and Cristine have been separated for a while, I've been separated for a while," he added.

In a separate interview, Cruz said he is not against the new relationship of his former girlfriend, referring to Ramsay as "a decent guy who can take care of Cristine."

Cruz even shared he and Reyes, as a couple then, would frequently spend time with Ramsay and Panganiban as a group of friends.

At the time, Ramsay and Reyes were already acquainted with each other's family. The actor happily related on Wednesday that he and Reyes are forming closer ties with each other's family members now that they are in a relationship.

"My mom has met her, the family's met her. I met the family (Reyes'). I was with her mom this morning, talking to her mom. It's just so perfect I guess because of the friendship," he said.